Design: this matters if you plan to hold on to your laptop for a long time.

The HP Spectre is the lightest and sleekest (2.45 pounds) and uses both machined aluminum and carbon fiber. The design is impressive because it squeezes a quad-core processor into an impossibly-thin 0.41-inch thick chassis. And it's definitely a looker. The Dell XPS 13 is about 2.7 pounds and its weaved carbon fiber palm rest give it a distinct look. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is just over 3 pounds but it's built like a tank with its sturdy all-aluminum construction.

Winner: I'm going to give it to the HP Spectre because it's pushing the boundaries of ultra-thin industrial design but still delivers good performance. And HP redesigned the 2017 Spectre 13, using thinner display bezels, reducing the footprint. I'll add that the Dell XPS 13 has become an icon for 13-inch laptop design with its thin display bezels and compact 12-inch laptop form factor. The only problem is, the design is beginning to age a bit. The MacBook Pro looks slightly dated against the HP but still looks great.

Credit: Apple

Apple 13.3-inch MacBook Pro.

Performance: I will focus on the biggest gap in performance. That is, the gap between Spectre/XPS and the MacBook. In other words, HP and Dell have updated their offerings with the latest Intel 8th Gen quad-core. Apple has not: the latest MacBook Pro 13 uses 7th gen dual-core processors. This is a pretty big deal because, for the first time, svelte 13-inch laptops are able to tap into Intel quad-core performance.

Will the average consumer notice the performance gap between the 8th-gen Spectre/XPS and 7th-gen MacBook? Probably not. Will the more performance-conscious notice? Yes.

That's the key take-away for me. That is, the 8th gen quad-core feels faster (to me) and is a lot faster if you go by raw benchmarks. MobileTechReview is seeing a 40 percent jump in performance (7:40 mark in video) for some operations. That's big for a gen-to-gen comparison.

Winner: Both HP and Dell because they've gone quad-core while maintaining ultra-slim form factors with good battery life. That said, I wouldn't go so far as to call the MacBook's 7th gen Intel processor a slouch. And on every-day tasks, it's more than adequate.

Battery life [UPDATE]: This is updated with more realistic (real-world) battery-life ranges. It's a close call between the Dell XPS (60 watt-hour battery) and the MacBook Pro (54.5 WHr battery). Battery life is dependent on so many factors, it's better to give a range (imo). Dell XPS 13: you could see 10-12 hours (i.e., all-day) if you keep a tight lid on things like screen brightness, video binging, and gaming. Otherwise, it could be a lot less (like 6 - 8 hours or less). And that applies to browsers too. Run a browser with lots of tabs open running background processes, and you're going to take a battery hit. MacBook Pro 13: could get you up into the 10-plus hour range. Again, that means keeping close tabs on power usage. If you don't watch power usage, then you're talking 6-8 hours or less. HP Spectre (43.7 WHr): you're talking about more than 6 hours, maybe 7 or more, depending on how much you task the processor and display.

Winner: Dell XPS 13. The XPS excels at balancing quad-core performance with battery life. And that's even with the QHD+ display (on the config I'm using). You'll get even more battery life with the FHD display model (which I don't have). The MacBook Pro won't disappoint. And HP does a commendable job considering how incredibly thin-and-light the Spectre is.

Display: Both the Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Pro are very-high-resolution. The XPS' QHD+ touch screen has 3,200-by-1,800 resolution and the MacBook has 2,560-by-1,600. Note that on cheaper configs, Dell uses an FHD display. The HP is 1,920-by-1,080 FHD and now has a touch-screen as standard. Regarding color accuracy, I'm going to defer to reviewers (below) who have more expertise than me.

XPS 13: a few of the reviews I've seen (including Lisa Gade's) say Adobe RGB and/or DCI P3 (see here for DCI P3) coverage is a bit lacking on the Dell. I'll add that it's something I don't notice. I eyeballed (very unscientific, by the way) the XPS 13 against my very-accurate LG 27-inch UltraFine 5K display and saw little variation in color quality between the LG and Dell. Moreover, the Dell display is a pleasure to look at and use every day. MacBook Pro: Let's face it, Apple is really good at making sure its displays are always top notch. The MacBook Pro DCI P3 rating is very high (good). And nits (brightness) is very high too. HP Spectre: while the Spectre's display is behind the MacBook on things like resolution and brightness, it is perfectly fine for the vast majority of users and just about any business user.

Winner: MacBook Pro 13. The MBP wins for color accuracy and brightness and for offering a Retina high-resolution display as standard. Display technology is a religion for Apple and it shows.

Ports: [UPDATE] the XPS 13, HP, and MacBook Pro all do a decent job with ports considering how thin, compact, and light all the laptops are. They all have USB Type C Thuderbolt 3 and USB 3.X ports (Type C).

For example, the HP Spectre's bump on the back provides two Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C and one USB 3.1 Type-C. The XPS 13 has two standard USB 3.0 (one w/PowerShare) and one Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C. The MBP 13 (my low-cost config) has two USB Type-C ports.

Winner: No vendor really stands out.

Price/bang-for-buck: this, for obvious reasons, is paramount for most people. After all, any vendor can charge a lot of money for a spec'd out laptop with a UHD display, fast processor, 16GB of RAM, and a big solid-state drive. The trick is hitting the sweet spot. That means a decently configured system at a reasonable price with good quality.

Winner: Dell XPS 13. It's now priced at $1,149.99* (usually $1,299) with a config that has an FHD display, 256GB SSD, and quad-core processor. As I mentioned above, I am not using that exact configuration. I have the fully spec'd XPS config (QHD+ display, 16GB, 512GB) that's priced at about $1,650. That's also a very good price for those specs. And would also win if I was doing a comparison between the Dell, HP, Apple laptops with those high-end specs.

The Dell wins on battery life, performance (along with HP) and bang-for-the-buck. As I said above, it's gorgeous, tried-and-true, and well-built. And it would win even if the specs on the Spectre and MacBook were jacked up to 16GB and 512GB SSD and if the HP was configured with a UHD display. One footnote: for better or worse, consumers (and reviewers) like to see a laptop's design get updated after 3 or 4 years. Will that happen in 2018 for the XPS 13? We may find out at CES 2018.

HP wins for being eminently totable (2.45 pounds) and for its durable industrial design. It's costly to build an incredibly thin/light laptop that's sturdy. And the Spectre is drop-dead gorgeous, to boot. And it is not a fingerprint/body oil magnet (compared to the XPS palm rest, which is). You also get quad-core (i7 8550U) performance (which includes Intel UHD 620 graphics), a good FHD (1,920-by-1,080) display, very good audio**, reasonable battery life, and a 256GB SSD. One drawback I didn't like was the display hinge, which won't allow you to tilt the display as far back as the XPS and MacBook displays can go.

The MacBook Pro 13 (mid-2017) is a very high-quality laptop and you can find one these days (discounted) for about $1,150 with a 128GB SSD, 8GB RAM, and Intel 7th gen processor. Up the SSD to 256GB, however, and the price jumps pretty considerably. Price and the absence of Intel's latest quad-core processors are the only things holding the MacBook back.

Addendum/update -- biometrics: Another reason I favored the XPS 13 and Spectre 13 over the MacBook Pro is biometrics. The Dell XPS 13 (even lower-priced SKUs) comes with a fingerprint reader and the Spectre has facial recognition via Windows Hello. Both are essential and shouldn't cost extra. You have to pay $1,799 to get a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar that has an integrated fingerprint reader.

Addendum/update -- keyboard: With the goal of keeping the comparison as concise as possible, I skipped the keyboard. That said, I found no glaring problems with the keyboards/trackpads on the XPS 13, Spectre 13, or 13-inch MacBook Pro. The only remarkably different keyboard is the MacBook Pro's Butterfly keyboard, which has limited travel and the tactile feedback can be less than satisfying for some users. That said, I like the butterfly keyboards on the 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Pro but I may be in the minority.

Here's a short video I took showing the 3 laptops up close:

----

*A discounted XPS 13 so the price could change in the future.

**I didn't include audio but the HP Spectre and MacBook Pro have the best audio.